Sock How-To's

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July 25, 2011

Simply Socks Yarn Company has now opened in our new digs, with all your orders now shipping after our week of being closed. The big move went nearly seamlessly, the only hiccup being how I greatly underestimated the time it would take to organize and display nearly 4 tons of sock yarn. It took only 10 hours to pack up everything, but many times that to hang it up and restock the new shelves. Here's the before and after:

If you watched SSYC's new Facebook page over the past week, you saw a glimpse into the move. Here's the long wall o' Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock.

As a token of my thanks for your loyalty and support, I'm offering a store coupon code for the first time ever. You'll receive 20% off one item, just by entering the code SSYCis4me in the promotional code field at Check Out. This code works just once per person, but you can pass it along to as many knitters as you like. This coupon expires 6pm EDT July 29, and will not be applied to past or special orders. Only on in stock yarn. It will be automatically applied to the highest priced item in your cart. For instance, if you order a skein of Smooshy, the price on your final invoice won't come up as $21.00, but instead will show as $16.80. And, yes, you can still qualify for free US shipping, but make sure that your order total $70 AFTER the discount.

This is the first time I've ever offered a coupon, and it's likely to be another 6 years before I do it again. So if there's something you've been eyeing for awhile now, but haven't taken the plunge, now is the time!

July 14, 2011

Yes, that would be the title that would describe this week. Every moment has been full of movement and progress. I know at the end of it I'll just crash into the floor. We spent much the last week in PA for a family wedding, thus the blog silence, then we came back into town to celebrate James' fourth birthday (I'm glossing over that for a reason- if I think about it too long I get teary because I no longer have a baby, but a boy), and we'll spend the rest of the week moving around fixtures and setting the store up just so before we even think about moving the yarn over.

What do you think of this table? A nice spot for a rest and a stitch? We salvaged this and many others from a local factory. Like this entire building, it's being reclaimed and repurposed. What once had a life in the tool and die industry now has a life in a yarn and dye space. Cool eh? Now I'm just thinking about paint colors for this table, as the wood is really too far gone to be sanded and varnished. What color do you think would be nice on this table?

Above the shelves in the first picture (see bottom picture), you're going to see this map. On it, I'm placing a dot for each one of you (or maybe a dot representing dozens of you in one place) that has helped Simply Socks Yarn Company grow. I want a constant reminder of the knitters who have helped me and my family be happy and whole. Each one of you has provided me with a career, and there are dozens of dyers, shippers, and artisans who rely on everyone who has touched SSYC over the past 6 years. If I were to write a list of all the lives you've affected with your purchases, it would be rather long.

When I walk in the door each day, I want to look up at Canada and think "Hey, Bobbi, I know you're going to love this month's club selection," or at PA and think "Vickie, you're going to get this sunny weather in about 12 hours." Afterall, it's the loyalty of all you knitters that has made this new storefront happen, and that's going to be my focus as I look at this map throughout the day.

Take a look below, and you can see just where this map resides, 10 feet up. These shelving units are nearly 10 feet long, and that's just one side of the store. There's so much room for sock yarn!

These shelves won't be empty for long! If you were planning on placing an order for something, I recommend doing so in the next couple days as we will soon be closing for about a week to move everything over.

June 30, 2011

It's done, kids, it's DONE. And a full month earlier than expected When does that happen with renovation projects? There's nothing left to do but assemble fixtures, bring in the yarn and arrange things just so.

Joe's not necessarily happy that the restoration is complete, because that means that Strebig Construction's fabulous job is over, and his begins. Here he is unloading the 14' box truck of nearly three tons of furniture and fixtures for the store. He's walking through what I call the "warehouse" of the building. Not only does my building have the showroom that you've seen all along, it also has a large rear space with a second floor, a garage door (you know, for all the yarn the UPS guy will haul in daily.... a girl can dream) and plenty of room for things I can't even imagine right now.

As the lucky husband of a yarn store owner, he knows his summer off from teaching will be busy with putting together three dozen shelving units, dozens of slatgrid walls, and affixing samples to the 14' walls, all while trying to tell me to leave him alone and let him do it his way. Which is fine, because I'll still be running the online store as usual and keeping track of a nearly-four year boy whose middle name of Danger certainly has started to fit his personality type in the past month.

June 27, 2011

I feel like I should knock on wood, or perhaps restored 60-year-old terrazzo floor, just typing that subject line. Like admitting that the restoration is nearly finished will force the process to a halt.

The flooring in the front showroom and back warehouse are complete, the walls have all been torn down/built up/painted (and the tile above cleaned and polished), many windowpanes have been replaced, all umpteen windows have been cleaned (revealing gorgeous wavy old glass and textured block), there's new electrical and the lighting and fans are up and working, the heating and cooling system has new ducts and new thermostats, landscaping is finished.... and there are perhaps hundreds of other details that were part of the project that I don't even know about. I think I'll set up a photo album on the left hand side bar to show all the pictures.... eventually. If you haven't been watching the progress here from the beginning, I recommend clicking on May on the right hand sidebar archives and seeing where this all started- a two story office space with no natural lighting and no original finishes showing. Sad.

Joe and I have measured for fixtures and OH MY LORD are store fixtures pricey. We aren't utilizing any of the fixtures that we are using right now, as admittedly my taste has become more expensive. And we have nearly three times more showroom space than I have now, so my hand is dreading writing that check. But that's the cost of doing business right. Either do it right, or don't do it.

Shown below, Joe and I marked out places for fixture placement, leaving plenty of room between so that it's handicap accessible, or more than one person can look at a time. That's one of my pet peeves about any type of retail space- when you can't even make it through an aisle or space without muttering, "oh, excuse me," eighteen times or knocking stuff over with your winter coat or bag.

June 23, 2011

On Monday, Fort Wayne's News Sentinel, printed a story about the new store! To me, this indicates two things: first, that media is starting to realize that knitting really is a hobby that millions of us are passionate about and that we want to read about regularly, and two, that I chose the right neighborhood and building in which to put my time and money. Opening a storefront, especially one that needs restoration and isn't simply a square unit smack-dab in a strip mall, isn't a cheap endeavor. To put the store in the space I've chosen, it's taken extra time, patience and money to make it happen. The rewards of restoring a vacant space and being a part of that neighborhood are worth it, but ultimately the bills need paid or it doesn't matter where the store's located or what good it has done to restore a building with such history. So it's reassuring that the neighborhood is ready and waiting for me to open, and getting so many nice e-mails from local knitters has been fabulous. I think it's a good omen, don't you?

After all, the newspaper simply could have chosen to devote a tiny paragraph to the store, but instead it received a quarter page and color image (in the print version). I'm quite happy that before the store even opens, it received some press!

Another newsworthy event, Sock Summit, is taking place in July. For those of you in the Portland, OR area, I hope you are planning on taking advantage of all it has to offer. And for those of you who are travelling from all over the world to attend, I envy you. While I am sponsoring the event, like I did for the first one, I won't be able to attend this year. No SSYC booth, and no Allison roaming the conference center. The timing just isn't right with the new building, and it was just really hard for me to leave little James for a week when I attended the last conference. As much as part of me would like a week away to hang out with like minded sock knitters, the mommy in me knows that was much too long for me to be comfortable. So I really hope attendees take great pictures and e-mail me links to your blog entries about the event so I can live vicariously!

To follow up on my call for test knitters earlier this week... Thank you for all the responses! I haven't even had the time to read all of the e-mails yet. I appreciate that so many of you want to show off your talent by knitting a sample for the new store. While I won't have time to respond to everyone, it's nice to know I have so many helpful knitters on hand for when I need assistance in the future. And for those of you who are interested and don't live in the US, you're still welcome to submit your info. As for Canadians, yes, it's worth submitting your info for me to consider you later, but since the Canadian Post is on strike, it doesn't make sense to ask you to knit a sample that can't get to you in a timely manner and can't get back to me within a couple weeks.

June 21, 2011

Babs has sent me a new shipment of her Yummy 2-ply sock and 3-ply sport including a few new colors, which I'm very apreciative of since it's her busy show season. Many hand dyers, like Babs, not only sell their yarn through select yarn stores, but also at various knitting conventions and shows. And as summer is prime show season, you might find that dyers are unable to dye store orders because of their busy schedule. Thank goodness my dyers work with me on this, because I'd hate to be completely out of something I know you all like so much.

Monday, the floor guys (I'm sure they have a more technical name, but my specialty is sock yarn, not flooring) started laying the tile. It's a 2'x2' diamond black/ivory pattern and it's perfectly centered in the middle of the store. Believe me, I know- if I had to look at an imperfectly laid out floor for the next umpteen years of my life, I'd go nutty. These two men (one of them with 22 years experience) expect to be finished at day's end. I've long loved the simplicity of black and white tile, and I think it reflects the period of the building perfectly.

The space could be complete by the end of the month, giving me plenty of time this summer to put in fixtures and get the place just so before moving the yarn in. Which brings me to the next stage, which I'd like your help with. I'm in the process of collecting sample socks/garments to display in the store. I'm pairing yarn with particular patterns, and I'd like to choose a few of you to help out in knitting the pieces. I only need a handful of knitters, and I know I'll get well over 100 interested people like I did a few years ago, so when you submit the following info to me, please don't hate me if I don't get back to you or even confirm receiving your submission. I'm treading water, timewise, as it is. And since I only need a few knitters right now, I'll keep your info on file for possible future sample knitting.... believe me, there will be plenty.

So here's what you should e-mail me, at service@simplysockyarn.com , if you're interested and if you have the next three weeks free to knit up a storm.

1. your full name and address

2. your personal guarentee that you can get the finished garment/socks to me two weeks after you receive the yarn. I'll reimburse you for shipping it back to me, and I'll pay for the yarn and pattern (but you'll need your own needles) and mail those to you.

3. a direct link to your Ravelry projects page, or three images of recent finished projects attached to the e-mail. I won't click more than once to see the images; I just don't have the time to search around for pictures, so please make sure you direct me to the right place.

4. if you are in Fort Wayne, New Haven or Woodburn, please title your e-mail LOCAL SAMPLE KNITTER, and if you aren't in my area, simply title it SAMPLE KNITTER. I need a couple of each.

I really appreciate your interest in knitting up samples and having them on display in the store. I'll tag the samples with the name and state of the person who knit them so that you can even come and visit them in their habitat, if you like!

June 20, 2011

I've been able to snag a great deal for you in the Sale Section- Classic Elite's Summer Sox at 45% off! A few years ago, Classic Elite sent me some of this cotton/wool/nylon blend yarn to test. I gave it a try and liked how it felt and was plied. It's quite easy to knit- not slippery- has a bit of "stickiness" to it- yes, that's a technical term :) - enough so that you could knit it with slippery aluminum dp's and not worry about stitches falling off. But like many yarns that I test and like, I just didn't have the room on the shelves to stock it. The nice thing about moving to the new space is that it's nearly 3 times the size of my current space, so weeding out great yarns b/c of space won't be an issue.

The fiber blend is one that I know will appeal to many of you, as I'm often getting requests for cotton content or light weight sock yarn to wear in warmer months. Well, this one is for you! Cookie A. even designed a sock pattern for Classic Elite for Summer Sox, and you can download it for free here.

If you're knitting women's medium sized socks, you'll likely need just two balls of this 50g ball of yarn. But if you want to knit larger women's or men's socks, you might dip into a third 50g ball. I currently have three neutral solids, and three striping colors in stock.

There's been some nice progress made on the building this past week- we now have light! Though I don't think it's much needed since there's so much natural light streaming into the building (this picture was taken in the early evening). The showroom space has 16 windows, so even on rainy days (which we've had plenty of lately) there's been enough natural light for the painters, woodworkers, and everyone else to work without flipping a switch. Next week is the flooring, and the week following should take care of all the little things that will need touched up and finished. It's all coming together!

June 10, 2011

That's what I'm going to try and do this weekend- find time to cast on some stitches and knit more than two rows. That has been my pattern for the past two months- knit two rows, get distracted by obsessing over part of the reno, pick up sock 24 hours later, knit 2 rows, repeat. So last night I picked a very-unlike-me color. I figure that something out of my norm might distract me enough from all that's going on, and coerce my creative side into taking over. So I picked the color that really caught my eye when I unpacked my first Madelinetosh Tosh Sock shipment last month. The color is so unlike my usual color choices. Any guesses which one it is?

This past week has been a time a making decisions and firming up plans before flooring goes in, which won't allow anything else to get done for a week. Lighting and electric decision are made, ducts hung, paint is up. You might remember that I initially decided on a Rich Cream (by Benjamin Moore) color for the walls of the store. After living with the samples on the walls for a week, I decided that the yellow-tinged cream with the mustard/olive tinged tile made for walls that were too warm. If I was striving for a space that would allow the natural light to show the true color of yarn, I should choose a less warm color for the paint, since the tile was already warm.

So I instead went with a color I'd call Oatmeal on the walls. You can kind of see the color in this picture, though there's just one coat on the walls. I'm more comfortable with this choice, as I don't feel like the space screams YELLOW. And, to me, this paint will allow the colors in the skeins to really be the focus. I also like that this neutral color is present in much of the terrazzo floor, so it all ties together.

June 08, 2011

When we first started the renovation of the store's new home, I learned that the original floor in the post office was terrazzo, but that it was so damaged by the multiple layering of floors over the years that it wasn't salvagable at a feasible price. Turns out, the only part of the store that was terrazzo was the first 10 feet of the front, and a few rooms in the warehouse/back. And after a long, hot weekend of work from a local concrete contractor, the first 10 feet have been restored! Not only were they restored beautifully, as you can see from the contractor's pictures below, but he worked over the weekend so that the floors could be covered with paper by Monday for the walls to be worked on.

I haven't been able to see these floors yet, and since they've been covered until the project is complete, I won't even be able to see them for weeks. But I'm really glad that the contractor took pictures so that I could show them off to you. Thanks, Nick!

June 02, 2011

Week three of the renovation is in full swing. It really seems to be moving quickly- demo done in four days, and then the next four included drywall and electric. Now, the drywall and paint will be continued, which means in another two weeks, the space will look entirely different.

Two days into demo, this is what the ceiling looked like. Ew.

And now, it has changed to this.

Bye bye, drop ceiling! Hello, 14 feet of swoon-worthy space!

This week, I learned that the terrazzo in the front 10 feet of the store can be restored. I'm very excited to see how it's going to look, once uncovered. Below is the terrazzo in one of the back rooms, and I love the colors, don't you? Now I just have to pick flooring that will go nicely with this terrazzo, since the majority is going to be another surface. Perhaps big coordinating tiles laid at a 45 degree angle?

If you aren't familiar with terrazzo, it's basically marble chips embedded in concrete. Terrazzo was typical in spaces like this one in the 40's and 50's. As this space was built as a post office, we're finding that the finishes used to make this space wear well with constant use are still in good shape 60 years later. Partially because they have been covered up for decades, but also because this building was built to last.

And who built this post office? Turns out, it was my attorney's father! I had met with him several times over the past month, and when I finally decided to take this space, I was describing it and he told me that not only did he know which one I was referring to, but that it had been one of the first spaces that his father's company built in the late '40's. His father and brothers built half dozen of these post offices and leased them to the government. He told me of the others that are still in use, and I even toured one several weeks ago to see the original finishes and how the space was used. There are all sorts of quirks in these post offices, including a special door that lead up to a catwalk. The postal inspector was the only one with a key to that door, and he could sneak in and watch the workers from above. The catwalk even extended into the bathrooms so the inspector could see if carriers were flushing any mail so that they didn't have to do as much work on their route! Boy, times have changed.

May 19, 2011

I knew this building had potential, but seeing the space unfold is really fun. While we've learned that the original terrazzo floor isn't salvageable, we have found the original 1948 Post Office wall tile to still be in tact and in remarkably good shape. It's nicely neutral with a tinge of mustard and pale olive, and it has me thinking about paint color now.

While I was originally thinking that a medium gray/brown paint above the tile would compliment the tile and grout, I'm starting to realize that while it would be nice in a home or office, it may not be appropriate for a yarn store. When I buy yarn, I find too much decor and a vivid color scheme to be distracting. While I do like a splash of color, I find that most decor competes with the skeins. For example, robins egg blue could be appropriate for my living room walls, but not a yarn store wall, as it could change the color of the light in the room and make it hard to discern what the color of a skein actually is. And paired with exclusively fluorescent lighting (which I'm staying away from for this space) finding the right color could be a nightmare. Consider a tomato red- in one light, it could have an orange tint, but in another it could seem more scarlet.

So, I know what I'm not going to do- utilize harsh fluorescent lighting and bold color on the walls. This space has quite a lot of natural light (these pictures were all taken with no artificial lighting or a flash), and I'm now gravitating to cream walls with white trim to enhance the light, instead of absorb it. What are your thoughts? Do you like to see bold decor in a yarn shop? Or do you want the fiber to do the talking? What color schemes (or lack thereof) or display ideas seemed smart?

Want to read former posts about the store's renovation? Check them out here and here.

May 18, 2011

Thank you so much for all the kind comments and e-mails about the store's new home! Your excitement is infectious. This is a big step for me, and there's some trepidation about entering into new territory. But you all are so positive and encouraging that it reinforces my commitment to this change. I'll not only be able to provide you all with an even larger selection of sock yarn and accessories, but this gives me a chance to connect with many of you in person.

Today is Day Two of demo. Yesterday, Strebig Construction started demo on the project and by late afternoon, had already filled two dumpsters with construction debris. The construction company is a well-respected fixture in Fort Wayne, and I feel fortunate to be working with them. If you'd like to see their Facebook page, which features pictures of this project, please take a look and leave comments if you'd like to show your support.

Today, James and I carefully made our way into the building to check out the progress, and it's thrilling what a half dozen professionals can get accomplished in 10 hours of work. This is the view from the front door, just a day before demo: the whole building was broken up into cave-like office space, with a second floor loft cutting off the view of the 14 foot ceilings.

And then last night, Joe and I stopped by to take a look at what had been accomplished. This is the same view. Woah, what a difference. And all these walls are coming down by tomorrow.

Only one day into the demo and we've discovered five different floors throughout (one terrazzo from the original post office- beautiful but likely not salvageable), wall tile (that's from the original post office that we are hell bent on keeping, at least in part), plaster, drywall, some kind of fiber board, pegboard and CEDAR SHAKE. Seriously? Cedar shake on the wall? I mean, take a look at that and tell me what someone was thinking with that one. Covering up the original terrazzo with office carpet is bad, but cedar shake in this building is just plain mind boggling. I feel like we're just taking off layer after layer to get to the center of a tootsie pop.

We have discovered some cool things though. An old enamle mop sink, some milk glass globes that we hope to reuse, and that the plaster ceiling is likely in good enough condition to keep instead of cover with ceiling tiles. But the best thing, to me, is open space. Possibility. The idea of filling this enormous space with sock yarn is intoxicating, isn't it?

May 16, 2011

When Joe and I first started dating in college, I brought him to my hometown for a friend's wedding. I showed him around my city and we took a walk in one of my favorite neighborhoods, one that's densely populated, has loads of character, and libraries/coffee shops/butcher/bakeries/schools all within a short walk. We walked down the street and said how cool it would be if we lived here one day.

We certainly didn't expect it to happen. You say things like that all the time, "wouldn't it be cool if..." and "what would it be like..." When we did settle down and buy a home, it was a small one in that same neighborhood. It was where I first started the store, before it outgrew our small space. Before we had a child and amassed the brightly colored accoutrement. Then we moved out to the country, to a home and barn large enough to accommodate our growing family and business.

There was a particular building in that neighborhood that was always my favorite. I had this image in my head that if I ever owned business, that building would be perfect. Beautiful brick. Arched windows. Opportunity. My evening walks took me past that property, and allowed me to fantasize about the possibility.

What does it take to turn possibility into reality? A magical combination of sock yarn, loyal knitters, and tenacity? Can I bring you with me on this adventure in restoring a dream? I hope you'll join me, because demo starts Tuesday.